this morning on "world news now," new fears of russian involvement in american politics. intelligence officials are looking into unconfirm claims that russia gathered personal information about president-elect trump. those allegations represented to trump at his intelligence briefing but this morning the president-elect is calling the whole story. hear how his transition team is responding. yes, we did. president obama's farewell speech. his message of hope and enment for many americans uncertain of the future and what brought him to tears in a city that started it all for the first family. and later the move to shut down a back page.com website. opponents say it promotes prostitution, but site's executives were no shows in congress while victims

>> the postal carrier and the watchful k-9. we'll tell you what a mailman did for one dog that will warm even the coldest of hearts. it's wednesday, january 11th. from abc news, this is "world news now." >> even the coldest of hearts. >> even the coldest of hearts. there's one around here somewhere, but yeah. >> we are going to start on a serious note. explosive but unsub stanchuated aluations of ties between russia and donald trump. >> this is like cold war era type spying information happening here. the fbi investigating unconfirmed claims that trump was personally compromised by the russians, and that his aides were involved in organizing the russian hack of the democratic party. the information was delivered to the fbi and n

organizations before and after the election. overnight the president-elect issued a flat denial tweeting fake news, a witch hunt. the allegations were reportedly presented to obama and trump during intelligence briefings last week. kellyanne conway denies that. >> we should be concerned that intelligence officials leaked to the press and won't go and tell the president-elect or the president of the united states himself now what the information is. they would rather go tell the press. >> but the report was -- the press report was about them going to the president. >> and it says they never brief him on it. that they appended two pages of the bottom of his intelligence report. >> i believe it said they did brief him on it. >> he said he's not aware of that. the fbi said said the allegations were too salacious not to be investigated. we should reiterate none of the claims have been verified by abc and

a trump lawyer accused of meeting with the russians in prague says he's never been to prague in his life. and president obama is offering some comfort and optimism as he prepares to turn over the country to donald trump. the president delivered a farewell speech in chicago tearing up as he thanked, his family and staff and vice president. and he call on americans to embrace democracy and reject discrimination. abc was there. >> reporter: barack obama's farewell. >> it's good to be home. >> reporter: the 44th president, the first family, the vice president and his wife surrounded by thousands of supporters in the place where it began, chicago. >> this is where i learned that change only happens when ordinary people get involved and they get engaged.

and they come together to demand it. >> reporter: the nation's first black president spoke of the historic nature of his presidency and the work of his administration. bringing the country back from recession, foreign policy, health care. >> america's a better, stronger place than it was when we started. >> reporter: addressing income inequality, terrorism and other threats to american democracy. >> we all have to start with the premise that each of our fellow citizens loves this country just as much as we do. >> reporter: the president's emotional moment speaking about the first daughters and first lady, michelle obama. >> you made the white house a place that belongs to everybody. >> reporter: the president's message to supporters, a thank you but also a call to action. >> i am asking you to believe not in my ability to bring about change but in yours. >> reporter: trying to leave office the way he entered it. on a wave of hope. >> yes, we can. yes,

we can. thank you. >> reporter: for the supporters a afterparty. for president obama, his final trip on air force one. abc news, chicago. our thanks to kendis. >> a lot of tears shed. the president got tearful, people in the audience. there's malia crying. >> we should point out that sasha obama was not there because she has a big exam tomorrow morning. she stayed back at the white house, but -- >> very responsible of her. >> exactly, the entire family traveled. this was his last official trip on air force one because when he leaves office they're going to actually just head down the street in georgetown. these lives in the early morning hours of iefair force base in maryland. the president and vice president coming in after the emotional farewell speech. >> end of an era. >> and michelle obama sent out a personal tweet after the speech yi

family of the photo saying so proud of po us ttus and all we' accomplished together. i love you, barack. >> there's the president getting teary eyed himself. >> and there were a lot of people in the audience as well. >> senator jeff sessions will face a round of questions today after defending his civil rights record after day one of his confirmation hearing. >> demonstrators were removed from the committee chambers moments before the hearing began. sessions then faced questions on a wide range of topics. he insisted he would stay independent of the white house and he promised to crack down on, quote, the scourge of radical islamic terrorism. the alabama republican also addressed accusations that he's made racist comments. >> people have fairly promptly tried to label you as a racist or a bigot or whatever you want to say. how does that make you feel?

>> well, that does not feel good. there was an organized effort to caricature me as something that wasn't true. it was very painful. it wasn't contact rat then, and it's not accurate now. >> on the subject of amnesty for undocumented immigrants, sessions said he would follow any laws passed by congress. however, he did say a continuous cycle of amnesty encourages more illegal immigration. >> the homeland security secretary nominee john kelley is backing donald trump's call for a wall at the mexican border. the retired marine general told the senate committee on homeland security that closing the border would be his top priority. he said a wall would have to be supplemented with patrols by federal and local authorities. coming up after the break, we'll have the rest of the morning's headlines including the latest on

floods in northern california. and the hit show blackish getting buzz at the golden globes and not shying away from difficult topics. we'll see what the show has planned for tonight taking on the presidential election. >> and you can always weigh in on facebook. find us at wnnfans.com or on twitter. you're watching "world news now." twitter twitter @abcwnn

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covering the extreme weather in the west, a second major rainstorm battering northern california causing flooding in many areas. some rez residents had to be evacuated as the russian river overflowed. residents say this is the worst they've seen in years. the river is expected to rise more than six feet above flood stage by tonight. there's also more snow in oregon. another 8 to 14 inches by this morning and even more south. workers are using a giant snow blower to clear a highway along the gourj. they say this type of snow is not safe to clear with a regular plow. most schools are closed today in the area. the white supremacist who gunned down church goers in south carolina was sentenced to death. the jury of dylann roof

a unanimous sentence. he told jurors that life in prison wasn't worth the effort. he said that he plans to appeal and he also faces a state trial. now, dozens of gathered in orlando to remember a police officer gunned down in the line of duty. a man hunt is underway for the suspect who allegedly murdered debra collalayton. she was shot after she approached the man. a reward for information leading to the arrest is up to $100,000. the executives of backpage.com are apparently refusing to cooperate in a congressional investigation into sex trafficking. called to testify yesterday about whether the site is running sex trafficking ads and helping to conceal them, the executives took the fifth amendment. >> reporter: backpage.com is denying any involvement in sex trafficking but the classified ad site shut down

section in the u.s. calling it a protest against government kren or theship. the move on the eve of the senate hearing on capitol hill where the site's top executives all pleaded the fifth. >> only time will tell if this action is an in the back pages online sex trafficking of children or a publicity stunt. >> reporter: lawmakers didn't mince families and families of the alleged victims bravely shared their stories hoping to make a difference. >> and what she went through on a daily basis is unimaginable to me. >> what happened to my daughter on backpage.com is criminal. >> reporter: their emotional testimonies following the release of a senate report found backpage.c backpage.com. >> this list of terms is chilling. starting in 2010 pack

deleted words including teenage, rape, young, little girl, teen, fresh, innocent, schoolgirl, and even amber alert. >> reporter: based on the findings lawmakers say they will look to see if any legislative changes are necessary and consider referring this matter to the justice department for further review. thank you to liz there. and top fox news host bill o'reilly has been at the center of a sexual harassment case. back in 2011. the paper reports fox executives struck a deal with the woman just after roger ailes was ousted from the company amid the sexual harassment scandal. in exchange for her silence, she was reportedly paid a sum in the high six figures. in paris they're looking

kardashian west was an inside job. more than $10 million of jewelry was stolen while she was staying there in october. the possibility of an inside job was raised after the arrest of a chauffeur and his brother. you ever play monopoly and fight before the game starlet -- starts over who is what piece? >> yes. >> we could soon be fighting over a hash tag or a monster truck. . the classic game pieces would be getting a makeover. >> fanning are voting online on whether to replace some or all of the tokens. voting is underway now through the end of the month at votemonopoly.com.

i hate ironing. why would i want to be an iron? i don't know. but some of the choices are really interesting. there's an emoji. >> like the turd emoji? >> no. no. i think it's a winky smiley face. >> okay. >> anyway, check out the list and cast your vote. coming up the stars of "blackish" a sitcom that dares to take on hot button issues like the presidential election.

if there's one sitcom fearless enough to take on issues, it's "blackish". one of the stars just won for actress in a tv comedy series. >>

trump once suggested it was politically incorrect. >> he suggested that? >> correct. we are up all night with deborah roberts. ♪ >> reporter: anthony andersen's character on blackish" is mourning the final days of the obama administration. >> this is why you took a sick day from work? to make a slide show? >> what happens when the winners and losers are supposed on the same team. >> reporter: this weak is about the presidential election. >> what happens? >> reporter: the johnson family is floored by the surprise election of donald trump. >> why aren't you guys dressed for school? >> we don't have school today. >> they gave us a day of reflection. >> anderson delays drai, a father of four.

and there's devastation to donald trump's election. is that something you experienced when you watched it or were you that surprised? >> devastation? no. i'm not going to say i experienced that, but surprise, yes. >> if you all had turned out for hillary the way you turned out for barack. >> reporter: 'hhe and his colleagues struggle. >> there's this yapping about female -- >> of course i want a female president. i just didn't want it to be her. >> not everyone that we interact with in our lives is of the same accord, and that should reflect in the stories we tell on our show. >> as much as i love disagreeing with your mom -- >> reporter: blackishtt

the wife wears her frustration over the election on her sleeve, literally. >> what's going on? seriously? >> what? >> everything you're wearing is from an npr commercial. >> she's wearing the swag. >> i'm spinning out of control sort of unclear on how to respond to what i'm feeling. >> l what i do like about what my character is doing, some of what i did in my life. i didn't do christmas gifts this year. i donated. >> will blackish continue to explore subjects around maybe this new administration? >> i'm sure that we will find some interesting ways to tackle the subject. >> reporter: for nightline, deborah roberts. >> one of the cast members, one of the members said they voted for trump and there was a giant gasp there on that episode. >> your failure is undeniable. i have to remember that line ne

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start the relief. ditch the misery. let's end this. it is time for the mix, and for centuries mailmen and the dogs. they have been mortal enemies. and now one mailman in boulder, colorado is working to heal that great divide. >> it's ending that rift after all these -- >> for all dogs. >> this dog is a senior 14-year-old lab who comes and visits this mail carrier every day while he is on his route. he's getting older and having trouble with his stairs. jeff built her this ramp to she could easily get in and out of the house. and he said that he actually built it for his dog but his dog has since passed. so he same over,

lumber and reassembled. >> he did it now that the dog can't run after him and attack him. >> yes. what if it was pill a puppy. >> listen to him. >> a happy animal. i had it in my backyard because my dog needed it at one time. he passed on. i gave it to them. a mailman that likes dogs, go figure. >> i love that he recognizes the irony. jeff we appreciate it. there's a certain oregon state college student that's a little bit in trouble this morning. here is why. he loves his dog willie. he's a 20-year-old student at oregon state. he's tried to sneak willie onto campus, taking him away from home. his mom caught him. over the holiday break, he did it. do you blame him?

mom ended up texting him the other day going where is willie? he responded, he's coming to school for a higher education to provide stability for his future. she said simply you're done. >> at least he made it to college. let's go to a girl who may not. a weatherman says he got a text from his daughter. he is the weather man in atlanta. he told the town it was going to snow. his daughter responded with my weather app disagrees. the weather app said it wasn't going to snow. his response in maybe the weather app should pay for your college tuition. >> oh, burn. >> boom. >> the internet loved it. loved it. retweeted 51,000 times. liked 157,000 times. guess what? it snowed. dad was right. >> truth be told, if you're in the tv news business, you're not paying for her college education hereto. >> sorry, chris.

>> community?

this morning on "world news now" the president's final speech to the country. see the packed house in his adopted hometown coming to its feet throughout the night. it was the president's most personal message that stole the show. and new salacious developments in the russian hacking scandal suggesting president-elect trump knew he was compromised by the russians. intelligence officials say they briefed trump on it. why is he now calling the story a fake? and new a bizarre incident on facebook live. >> an uber driver holds someone hostage forcing the driver to help him rob the bank only to then give the money away. hear what the suspect claims he was doing it for. and we're getting our first look at